an irregular view on cities

Menu

Outfitted for the road

Steven listed out his winter kit, so I thought I’d share as well what I wore today, with riding temperatures around 15-20° F (-5° to -10° C). Two rules: first, block the wind with lots of windproof fuzzy stuff, especially around your toes, fingers, and ears. Second, hit up spring clearances: they’ve already started, people! Get moving!

Yesterday, when it hit single digits (-15° C), I kind of overdid it and ended up sweaty. In addition to the above, I wore:
– Anon kids’ ski goggles (REI clearance bin, $19.93) in place of the glasses
– Fleece mittens (MEC, C$6) over the gloves, as a hand midlayer
– Midweight fleece long johns instead of the basic ones
– Brooks Brothers wool sweater
– A fine wool scarf

I can’t say it’s any faster to bike to work in the winter: although traffic is thinner, it takes a good 10-15 minutes to suit up/down — doubling what’s usually a 25-minute ride that’s already time-competitive with my nearly door-to-door train service. I don’t have set rules about what weather I’ll rule out, but winds above 25 MPH (40 km/h), temperatures below 0° F (-20° C), or a 40%+ chance of precipitation will usually do it — even though I own a raincoat, rain pants, and a balaclava (face mask), I do have my limits.

OK, but I think you’re forgetting to mention that even travelling by train in the winter takes more time than it does in the summer. You probably spend at least an extra 5 minutes suiting-up your walking-winter gear.

Yeah, Steve, I was wondering how you got by with just a jersey. Lights are inexplicably silly-cheap at MEC, even if the whole “going to Canada” bit kind of cancels that out.

Actually, Kevin, my walking gear is just the same coat and a hat; no need for three layers over head, feet, or hands. Plus, anecdotally the trains are marginally faster; no track construction and shorter dwell times since there are fewer passengers.

I once looked at lobsters, but a dexterity test (can I fish keys out from my back pocket with these on?) showed that they were no better than basic mitts. Of course, I didn’t realize that I’d eventually switch (on one of my bikes) from Shimano rapid-fires to SRAM Attacks, which require a little more finger action, but it still works out fine — and much cheaper.